Upright type vacuum cleaner

ABSTRACT

An upright type vacuum cleaner is disclosed. An object of the present invention is to provide an upright type vacuum cleaner having a movement direction changed smoothly and quickly as necessary during the movement. The upright type vacuum cleaner includes a body, a wheel member provided in the body, the wheel member including a main rotation member rotatably provided in the body, and an auxiliary rotation member rotatably provided in the main rotation member to be rotated in a predetermined rotational direction different from a rotational direction of the main rotation member.

This application also claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/264,228, filed on Nov. 24, 2009, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an upright type vacuum cleaner, more specifically, to an upright type vacuum cleaner that includes a body or suction nozzle having an efficient direction change.

2. Discussion of the Related Art

Vacuum cleaners are home appliances that are able to suck external dust by using a vacuum pressure generated by a motor provided in each of their bodies.

Such vacuum cleaners may be categorized based on their shapes into canister types and upright types.

In an upright type vacuum cleaner, a body and a suction nozzle are connected by a predetermined suction hose. If a user moves the suction nozzle by using a handle provided in the suction hose, the body will move correspondingly.

That is, such the upright type vacuum cleaner includes the body and the suction nozzle which are connected with each other such that the user may vacuum-clean, with dragging the body.

According to a conventional upright type vacuum cleaner, a wheel member is rotatably provided in a body. If the user pulls the body, the wheel member rolling-moves and the body moves correspondingly.

However, the wheel member is determined to be rotatable only forward and rearward. In case of making left or right turning, the wheel member has a limited rotation radius and as a result, the user may feel inconvenient when trying to change the movement direction of the body quickly.

Especially, in case of meeting an obstacle when pulling the body, the user may have the above inconvenience because of the weight of the body.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To solve the problems, an object of the present invention is to provide an upright type vacuum cleaner having a movement direction changed smoothly and quickly as necessary during the movement.

To achieve these objects and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, a upright type vacuum cleaner includes a body; a wheel member provided in the body, the wheel member including a main rotation member rotatably provided in the body; and an auxiliary rotation member rotatably provided in the main rotation member to be rotated in a predetermined rotational direction different from a rotational direction of the main rotation member.

In another aspect of the present invention, an upright type vacuum cleaner includes a body; a motor accommodation part accommodating a motor generating a vacuum pressure, in communication with the body; and a wheel member provided in the motor accommodation part, in contact with a floor.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide further understanding of the disclosure and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this application, illustrate embodiments of the disclosure and together with the description serve to explain the principle of the disclosure.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating an upright type vacuum cleaner according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side-sectional view illustrating the upright type vacuum cleaner;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a first wheel member of a wheel member provided in the upright type vacuum cleaner;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a second wheel member of a wheel member provided in the upright type vacuum cleaner;

FIG. 5 is a plane view illustrating a movement direction of the upright type vacuum cleaner, seen below;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating an upright type vacuum cleaner according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a front view illustrating a motor accommodation part and a wheel member according to a first embodiment applied to the upright type vacuum cleaner of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a front view illustrating a motor accommodation part and a wheel member according to a second embodiment applied to the upright type vacuum cleaner of FIG. 6; and

FIG. 9 is a front view illustrating a motor accommodation part and a wheel member according to a third embodiment applied to the upright type vacuum cleaner of FIG. 6.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As follows, an exemplary embodiment of the present invention will be described in the accompanying drawings.

As shown in FIG. 1, an upright type vacuum cleaner according to the exemplary embodiment of the present invention includes a body 10 including a dust collection device and a dust separation device mounted therein and a suction nozzle 20 connected to the body 10.

A wheel member 100 is provided in each of a lower side portion of the body 10 and the suction nozzle 20. Here, the wheel member 100 may be provided only in the body 10.

The wheel member mounted to the suction nozzle 20 will be referenced to as a first wheel member 110 and the wheel member mounted to the body 10 will be referenced to as a second wheel member 120.

Here, the size of the first wheel member 110 may be smaller than that of the second wheel member 120. The first wheel member 110 and the second wheel member 120 include a main rotation member 111 and 121 and an auxiliary rotation member 112 and 122, respectively.

The main rotation member 111 and 121 may be rotated toward a forward/rearward direction of the body and suction nozzle 20 and the auxiliary rotation member 112 and 122 may be rotated toward a different direction from the rotational direction of the main rotation member 111 and 121.

That is, the rotational direction of the auxiliary rotation member may be orthogonal or diagonal with respect to the rotational direction of the main rotation member 111 and 121.

Here, the first wheel members 110 may be arranged inside the suction nozzle 20, spaced apart a predetermined distance from each other, not to be exposed outside. The second wheel members 120 may be arranged in body opposite side portions of the body 10, exposed outside.

As shown in FIG. 2, the suction nozzle 20 is located in front of the body 10 and thus the first wheel members 110 may be located approximately in front of the second wheel members 120.

Rotational shaft supporters 113 and 123 rotatably coupled to both of the body 10 and the suction nozzle 20 are formed in centers of the main rotation members 111 and 121 of the first and second wheel members 110 and 120, respectively, to rotatably support the first wheel member 110 and the second wheel member 120.

As shown in FIG. 3, the main rotation member 110 of the first wheel member 110 is provided in a disk shape and partition walls 115 are provided in the main rotation member 11.

Accommodation parts 114 are provided between the partition walls 115 to accommodate the auxiliary rotation members 112 therein rotatably and the auxiliary rotation member 112 accommodated in the accommodation part 114 is rotatably coupled to the partition wall 115.

The partition wall 115 is extended outward from the rotational shaft supporter 113 and an end of the partition wall 115 is divided in two ways to disperse the load in case of contacting the floor.

The auxiliary rotation members 112 may be arranged in both side portions of the main rotation member 111 in two lines. One of the auxiliary rotation members 112 arranged in a predetermined line may be alternative with respect to another one arranged in the other line.

This is because it is preferable that the auxiliary rotation members 112 are in contact with the floor continuously.

An outermost portion of the auxiliary rotation member 112 may be extended outward further than an outermost portion of the main rotation member 111.

Here, FIG. 3A shows four auxiliary rotation members arranged in the main rotation member 111 and FIG. 3B shows three auxiliary rotation members 112 arranged in the main rotation member 111.

As the number of the auxiliary rotation members 112 is smaller, the size of each auxiliary rotation member may be larger correspondingly.

In case three or four auxiliary rotation members 112 are mounted to the main rotation member 111 in the first wheel member 110, the shape of each auxiliary rotation member may be like Rugby ball or raised pot to make the first wheel member 110 rotated smoothly.

As shown in FIG. 4, the second wheel member 120 includes the main rotation member 121 formed in a disk shape and an auxiliary rotation member 122 rotatably provided in a circumferential portion of the main rotation member 121.

Accommodation parts 124 are provided in the circumferential portion of the main rotation member 1221 to accommodate the auxiliary rotation members 122. The auxiliary rotation members 122 are arranged to be accommodated in the accommodation parts 124, respectively, spaced apart a predetermined distance from each other.

As mentioned above, the rotational supporter 123 may be provided in a center of the main rotation member 121.

The auxiliary rotation members 122 directly contact with the floor in the second wheel member 120 and thus an outermost portion of the auxiliary rotation member 122 may be extended outward further than an outermost portion of the main rotation member 121.

This is because the rotational directions of the main rotation member 121 and the auxiliary rotation members 122 should be changed quickly as mentioned above.

Each auxiliary rotation member 122 arranged in the second wheel member 120 may have a cylinder shape having a regular diameter in comparison to a diameter of the auxiliary rotation member 112 provided in the first wheel member 110 shown in FIG. 3.

This is because a rate between the length of the auxiliary rotation member 112 of the first wheel member 110 and the circumference of the first wheel member 110 is different from a rate between the length of the auxiliary rotation member 122 and a circumference of the second wheel member 120.

That is, the length of the auxiliary rotation member 112 of the first wheel member 110 shown in FIG. 2 is approximately 1/7˜⅛ of the overall circumference of the first wheel member and the length of the auxiliary rotation member 122 of the second wheel member 120 shown in FIG. 4 is 1/20˜ 1/25 of the circumference of the second wheel member 120.

As the circumference of the wheel member is different from the length of the auxiliary rotation member more noticeably; the shape of the auxiliary rotation member may be a cylindrical roller.

Here, the body may be movable freely along ‘A’ that is a rotational direction of the main rotation member 121 and ‘B’ that is a rotational direction of the auxiliary rotation members 122 and along opposite directions to theses directions. If the auxiliary rotation members 122 are arranged in a diagonal direction, the body may be movable freely in more directions.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating movement operation of the upright type vacuum cleaner. FIG. 5A illustrates the upright type vacuum cleaner moving forward and rearward.

If the user moves the vacuum cleaner forward or rearward, holding the body 10, the first wheel member 110 mounted in the suction nozzle 20 and the second wheel member 120 mounted in the side portion of the body 10 will be moved forward and rearward by the force applied by the user.

At this time, the main rotation members 111 and 121 are rotated in a forward and rearward direction, with the auxiliary rotation members 112 and 122 mounted in the first and second wheel members 110 and 120 and then the first and second wheel members 110 and 120 are rotated toward the forward and rearward direction of the body 10.

As shown in FIG. 5B, if the user pulls the body 10 in a leftward and rightward direction, the auxiliary rotation members 112 and 122 of the first and second wheel members 110 and 120 in contact with the floor will be rotated toward the leftward or rightward direction.

As a result, the body 10 and the suction nozzle 20 may be moveable in the leftward or rightward direction.

Because of that, the inconvenience of rotating the body and the suction nozzle 20 along a limited rotation radius is solved if the movement direction of both of the body 10 and the suction nozzle 20 is changed.

This embodiment presents that the body 10 and the suction nozzle 20 are movable in forward/rearward and leftward/rightward directions and the present invention is not limited thereto. The body 10 and the suction nozzle 20 may be movable in a diagonal direction with respect to the forward/rearward direction according to the installation direction of the auxiliary rotation members 112 and 122.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating an upright type vacuum cleaner according to another embodiment of the present invention.

The upright type vacuum cleaner according to this embodiment includes a body 30, a suction nozzle 40, a suction tube 41 connecting the suction nozzle 40 with the body 30 and a dust collection device 42 mounted in the body 30.

A suction motor (not shown) for generating a vacuum pressure and a motor accommodation part 44 are provided between the body 30 and the suction nozzle 40.

A supporting leg 50 is provided in a lower rear portion of the body 30 to support the body.

A wheel member 200 is mounted to each of the suction nozzle 40 and the supporting leg 50. for convenience sake, the wheel member 200 mounted in the suction nozzle 40 will be referenced to as a first wheel member 210 and the wheel member mounted in the supporting leg 50 will be referenced to as a second wheel member 220.

Here, the first wheel member 210 includes a main rotation member 211 guiding the forward/rearward movement of the body and the suction nozzle and an auxiliary rotation member 212 guiding the body and the suction nozzle toward a different direction from the above forward/rearward movement.

The second wheel member 220 includes a main rotation member 221 guiding the forward/rearward movement of the body and the suction nozzle and an auxiliary rotation member 222 guiding the body and the suction nozzle toward a different direction from the above forward/rearward direction.

Here, the configurations of the main rotation members 211 and 221 of the first and second wheel members 210 and 220 and the configuration of the auxiliary rotation members 212 and 222 are substantially identical to the configurations shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 and detailed description thereof will be omitted accordingly.

According to FIG. 6, a rotational direction of the auxiliary rotation members 212 and 222 is referenced to as ‘B’ that is a leftward/rightward direction to be orthogonal with respect to a forward/rearward direction of the body.

However, the rotational direction of the auxiliary rotation members 212 and 222 is not limited to the leftward/rightward direction and the auxiliary rotation members 212 and 222 may be rotatable toward a diagonal direction with respect to ‘A’ or ‘B’ to move the body and the suction nozzle 40.

A wheel member 300 is provided in an outer circumferential surface of the motor accommodation part 44 and the wheel member 300 includes a main rotation member 310 rotatably provided toward ‘A’ in a ring shape and an auxiliary rotation member 320 rotatably provided in the main rotation member 310, rotatable toward a different rotational direction from a rotational direction of the main rotation member 310.

The plurality of the auxiliary rotation member 320 may be provided along the main rotation member 310 and the auxiliary rotation member 320 may be roller-shaped.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating the wheel member 300 provided in the motor accommodation part 44 in detail.

The wheel member 300 is arranged along an outer circumferential surface of a center portion of the motor accommodation part 44. The shape of the motor accommodation part 44 is extendedly raised more and more toward the center from a left side enough to contact with the floor. If the wheel member 300 is mounted in such the raised center portion, the rotational movement may be performed smoothly.

The main rotation member 310 of the wheel member 300 is arranged rotatably along the outer circumferential surface of the center of the motor accommodation part 44.

The main rotation member is movable toward a forward/rearward (A) direction that is corresponding to the forward/rearward direction (B) of the body (30, see FIG. 6).

The auxiliary rotation member 320 is rotatably provided in the main rotation member 310 and the rotational direction of the auxiliary rotation member 320 is arranged different from the rotational direction of the main rotation member 310.

The auxiliary rotation member 320 is roller-shaped and the plurality of the auxiliary rotation members 320 are arranged spaced apart a predetermined distance from each other.

Here also, the auxiliary rotation members 320 are directly in contact with the floor. If the user moves the body toward ‘A’, the auxiliary rotation members 320 is rotated, with generating friction against the floor, to rotate the main rotation member 310 connected thereto toward ‘A’.

At this time, the auxiliary rotation members 320 are rotated not at all or little toward ‘B’ and the rotational movement of such the auxiliary rotation members 320 toward ‘B’ may give no effect to the rotational movement of the main rotation member 310 toward ‘A’.

As the main rotation member 310 is rotatably provided in the motor accommodation part 44, the motor accommodation part 44 may be fixed to the body.

For such the operation, an outermost portion of the auxiliary rotation member 320 may be extended outward further than an outermost portion of the main rotation member 310.

If the user moves the body toward ‘B’ direction, the auxiliary rotation members 320 are rotated toward ‘B’ direction. When the auxiliary rotation members 320 are rotated in ‘B’ direction, the main rotation member 310 are rotated little or not at all in ‘B’ direction.

Such the movement of the main rotation member 310 may give no effect to the rotational movement of the auxiliary rotation members 320 toward ‘B’ direction.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a wheel member mounted in the motor accommodation part 44 according to another embodiment of the present invention.

The wheel member includes an auxiliary rotation member 330 provided in an outer circumferential surface of the motor accommodation part 44 in a roller-shape.

The plurality of the auxiliary rotation members 330 are provided and they are arranged spaced apart a predetermined distance from each other with respect to the circumferential surface of the motor accommodation part 44.

Here, it is preferable that the motor accommodation part 44 itself is rotatable in a forward/rearward direction and the auxiliary rotation members 330 are rotated in a different rotational direction from a rotational direction of the motor accommodation part 44.

That is, according to the drawing, the rotational direction of the motor accommodation part 44 is referenced to as ‘A’ and the rotational direction of the auxiliary rotation member 330 is referenced to as ‘B’. If the user pushes or pulls the body in ‘A’ direction, the motor accommodation part 44 is rotated along this direction to help the movement of the body.

At this time, the auxiliary rotation members 330 maintain contact with the floor, moving along ‘A’ direction.

In case the motor accommodation part 44 is rotated in a forward/rearward direction, the auxiliary rotation members 330 contact with the floor sequentially and thus the motor accommodation part 44 is rolling-moved forward or rearward to move the body.

In the meanwhile, if the user moves the body in ‘B’ direction, the auxiliary rotation members 330 provided in the motor accommodation part 44 are rotated in ‘B’ direction that is a leftward or rightward direction.

At this time, the motor accommodation part 44 is not in contact with the floor and the auxiliary rotation members 330 are rotated in ‘B’ direction. Because of that, the motor accommodation part 44 may be rotated forward or rearward little or not at all.

As a result, the rotational movement of the auxiliary rotation members 330 enables the body to move in ‘B’ direction smoothly.

This embodiment presents ‘A’ and ‘B’ directions are orthogonal to each other and these directions are not limited to be orthogonal. ‘A’ and ‘B’ directions may be diagonal to each other.

Thus, the rotational direction of the auxiliary rotation members 330 is arranged different from the rotational direction of the main rotation member (310, see FIG. 7) and the motor accommodation part 44 such that the body may be movable toward a direction intended by the user.

As shown in FIG. 9, the auxiliary rotation members 340 may be arranged in a single line and they may be arranged in plural lines to make the rotational movement of the auxiliary rotation members 340 performed efficiently.

The arrangement of the auxiliary rotation members 340 in the plural lines may be applicable to the embodiment shown in FIG. 7 equally.

The rotational movement of the auxiliary rotation members 330 arranged in the plural lines and the rotational movement of the main rotation member (310, see FIG. 7) and the rotational movement of the motor accommodation part 44 are substantially identical to the embodiments shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 and detailed description thereof will be omitted accordingly.

The present invention has following advantageous effects.

According to the upright type vacuum cleaner, change of the movement direction may be performed quickly and efficiently.

Specifically, if a user intends to move the body in a different direction from a current movement direction while moving the body by using the rotational movement of the main rotation member and the motor accommodation part, the user applies a force to the body toward the wished direction and he/she can change the direction of the body smoothly by the rotation of the auxiliary rotation members.

Furthermore, even if the body colliding with an outside object such as a table or book shelf during the movement of the upright type vacuum cleaner, the movement direction of the body may be guided quickly in a different direction momentarily after the collision. As a result, the body is prevented from being upturned by the collision.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention. Thus, it is intended that the present invention cover the modifications and variations of this invention provided they come within the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents. 

1. A upright type vacuum cleaner comprising: a body; a wheel member provided in the body, the wheel member comprising: a main rotation member rotatably provided in the body; and an auxiliary rotation member rotatably provided in the main rotation member to be rotated in a predetermined rotational direction different from a rotational direction of the main rotation member.
 2. The upright type vacuum cleaner as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: an accommodation part provided in the main rotation member to accommodate the auxiliary rotation member and the plurality of the auxiliary rotation member are provided and the plurality of the accommodation parts are provided correspondingly.
 3. The upright type vacuum cleaner as claimed in claim 1, further comprising: a suction nozzle connected with the body, wherein the wheel member comprising the main rotation member and the auxiliary rotation member is installed in the suction nozzle.
 4. The upright type vacuum cleaner as claimed in claim 3, wherein the plurality of the wheel members are provided and the plurality of the wheel members are rotatably provided in both opposite side portions of the body and both opposite side portion of the suction nozzle.
 5. The upright type vacuum cleaner as claimed in claim 3, wherein the wheel member comprises a first wheel member and a second wheel member formed larger than the first wheel member and the first wheel member is arranged in the suction nozzle and the second wheel member is arranged in the body.
 6. The upright type vacuum cleaner as claimed in claim 5, wherein auxiliary rotation members of the first wheel member are arranged in both side portions of a main rotation member in plural lines and auxiliary rotation members of the second wheel member are arranged along an outer circumferential surface of a main rotation member in a single line.
 7. The upright type vacuum cleaner as claimed in claim 1, wherein the rotational direction of the main rotation member and the rotational direction of the auxiliary rotation member are formed different to a predetermined angle.
 8. The upright type vacuum cleaner as claimed in claim 1, wherein an outermost portion of the auxiliary rotation member is extended outward further than an outermost portion of the main rotation member to be contactable with a floor.
 9. An upright type vacuum cleaner comprising: a body; a motor accommodation part accommodating a motor generating a vacuum pressure, in communication with the body; and a wheel member provided in the motor accommodation part, in contact with a floor.
 10. The upright type vacuum cleaner as claimed in claim 9, wherein the wheel member is configured to surround an outer circumferential surface of the motor accommodation part and the wheel member comprising comprises, a main rotation member rotatably provided in the motor accommodation part; and an auxiliary rotation member provided in the main rotation member, having a predetermined rotational direction different from a rotational direction of the main rotation member.
 11. The upright type vacuum cleaner as claimed in claim 9, wherein the plurality of the wheel members are provided in an outer circumferential surface of the motor accommodation part, movable in a movement direction of the body.
 12. The upright type vacuum cleaner as claimed in claim 9, wherein the motor accommodation part is rotatably provided in the body and the wheel member comprises a roller-shaped auxiliary rotation member arranged to be rotatable in a predetermined rotational direction from a rotational direction of the motor accommodation part.
 13. The upright type vacuum cleaner as claimed in claim 9, further comprising: a supporting leg extendedly provided in a rear portion of the body; and a wheel member rotatably provided in the supporting leg, the wheel member comprising: a main rotation member; and an auxiliary rotation member rotatably provided in the main rotation member, having a predetermined rotational direction different from a rotational direction of the main rotation member.
 14. The upright type vacuum cleaner as claimed in claim 9, further comprising: a suction nozzle connected with the body; and a wheel member provided in the suction nozzle, the wheel member comprising: a main rotation member; and an auxiliary rotation member rotatably provided in the main rotation member, having a predetermined rotational direction different from a rotational direction of the main rotation member. 